Fire Dept., Health Dept. provide free CPR, AED training

LOMBARD, Illinois—Volunteer instructors and no fees for students are the focus of a new win-win program to offer CPR and AED training to the Lombard community.

On October 1, free CPR and AED instruction will be offered at two locations in Lombard: The First Church of Lombard, 220 S. Main Street and the Lombard Village Hall, 255 E. Wilson. The classes will be held from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and are intended to last approximately 45 minutes.

The DuPage County Health Department and the Village of Lombard will be hosting the free training. The unique program, entitled “Chain of Survival Basic Training,” is designed to give a lay person the basic knowledge on how to respond if they were to witness a sudden cardiac arrest, according to John Miller, Emergency Response Coordinator with the DuPage County Health Department.

“We will have four stations set up to get people through the training in an organized and efficient manner,” said Lt. Paul DiRienzo, EMS Officer of the Lombard Fire Department. “Students will be instructed in basic CPR and AED,” he added.

The purpose of the program is to offer the training to the community free, which was not the case before. Previously, CPR classes were offered for a fee and the Village paid off-duty personnel to teach the course. Due to budget constraints, many of these programs were cut.

“It's a different way of looking at accomplishing the same goal,” said DiRienzo. “We knew we wanted to offer the training but just had to figure out a way to do that more efficiently and cost-effectively,” he added.

For more information or to register, visit www.dupagehealth.org/sthevents.

During the past few years, all Village departments have been looking at various ways to save money, reduce Village expenditures and combine resources yet still deliver the same quality services that Lombard residents expect to receive. Partnerships such as this with the DuPage County Health Department is one way of doing just that.